1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to grenade launchers and, more particularly, to a system and method to convert a rifle mountable grenade launcher into a hand held stand alone grenade launcher.
2. Prior Art
The M79 grenade launcher rifle was the first weapon to come into service which was specifically designed to fire spin stabilized grenades (40 mm). Soon after, in 1969, the M203 grenade launcher was adopted as the successor to the M79. This design utilized the capabilities of the M79 in a compact unit that attached under the grip area of the M16 service rifle. The M203 has been generally replacing the M79 on a one for one basis. However, there is still a current need for a stand alone grenade launcher rifle. As time goes by, locating replacement parts for the M79 is becoming exceedingly difficult. Because of this, long term service life of the current inventory of the M79 grenade launchers cannot be guaranteed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,279,114 to Lewis et al. discloses a grenade launcher that is mountable to the underside of a rifle at its barrel. The launcher has a rear mount of generally U-shaped cross-section with an open top slot. U.S. Pat. No. 3,507,067 to Into discloses a similar rifle mounted grenade launcher.
Another rifle mountable grenade launcher, the M203, is also known in the prior art. Hand held stand alone grenade launchers are also known in the prior art including the M79 grenade launcher. Steyr Defence Products of Austria sells M203 type grenade launchers having a folding stock pistol unit without a rifle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,489 to Kurak discloses a method and apparatus for reconfiguring an automatic rifle for quick attachment and detachment of a grenade launcher.
The present invention is in regard to an adapter system that when attached to an unmodified M203 launcher converts it into a stand alone shoulder fired or hand held pistol fired grenade launcher. It is an objective of the present invention to provide a new and improved attachment for a rifle mountable grenade launcher unit to use the grenade launcher unit as a hand held stand alone grenade launcher.